Eraser (CANCELLED)
by okamisenpai34
Summary: What defines humanity? is it our emotions? or perhaps our ability to feel? see the story of a mechanical heart in search of answers.
1. Chapter 1

**this story uses a lot of ideas from the NIER universe, think of this as an alternate take to Nier: Automata but with a completely different story and characters. i do have some cameos in mind so the connection is more clear.**

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[ **life matter detected. Scanning...species identified as Fratercula, common name: Puffin]**

"Pod, can you access the database and report the current number of living creatures with this parameter?"

said the hooded creature quietly, the tone of her voice made it clear that "it" was a female, the torn white robe reflected her almost angelic white hair perfectly; like a beam of light reflecting off a mirror's surface.

[ **understood. Requesting access to main database...access granted, proceeding with numerical identification of species. Processing...]**

The hooded creature sat atop an inclined fallen brick wall overlooking the ocean, as it sat down it flashed a bit of its porcelain skin. The clothing underneath seemed to be almost a part of "it", there were lines where her shoulders and legs joined with the midsection of her body, almost like a doll.

"tell me, who are you? Where are we?"

I asked politely, not wanting to even try to attempt to get on her bad side, I had seen her throw a 7-foot-high rock. Singlehandedly. I did not want that chasing after me in a fit of rage.

[ **android unit 6Q, surveillance and research division, current operational days. 164250. Clearance level 6]**

Spoke the floating box that was scanning the puffin which rested upon an old oak branch.

"thank you, Pod. But...I can take care of my own introductions. This here is my pod, it's a companion machine assigned to all surveillance units here, combat units are assigned shards, which look more like triangles, they're outfitted with insane amounts of weaponry. This one here though, its just a recon unit"

The silver haired creature corrected, still facing away from me. It punched the floating box playfully as it corrected its lacking introduction.

"say, aren't you from the village atop the hill? That's a long way down from there, are you oka-"

Paused the creature as she turned to face me, her eyes widening like a cat's upon waking up, her body perked up with energy. She proceeded to dash towards me, leaving behind a shockwave of dust, mud and leaves.

I proceeded to hug myself in fear, fearing that the incredibly strong creature would turn me into a mist of innards and guts with a singe punch at those speeds. An action which didn't last long since nothing seemed to have happened for 2 seconds. I was alive still. Or at least, I thought I was.

[ **the human seems to be in high levels of distress, please refrain from further fear inducing actions]**

The Pod materialized instantaneously beside the girl which was now leaning down in front of me, our faces only separated by 3 inches of empty space. Her eyes were now covered by a black blindfold-like cloth, her lips were somewhat full and very pink, almost too perfect to be real, her nose was perfectly angled, and she did not brandish even a single thing on her face that someone would consider as "ugly". Me on the other hand, I had been born with only one arm, I also had a scar running from the nape of my spine to the place where my left hip rested. I was an abomination compared to the beautiful woman bending in front of me. I wasn't even worthy of her time.

"p..please don't hurt me, I haven't done anything to you or your Pod. I may be an abomination, but I swear to you I'm not dangerous this is just how I was birthed please spare me"

My knees began to shake with the anxiety of being stared at, back at the village, stares were soon followed by pushes and punches. The woman physically flinched in response to my pleas.

"a what? An abomination? Not at all! You're not boring like the rest of them! 2 legs and 2 arms? That's boring! Do you know how many species of birds there are? I didn't even know that muffin over there existed!"

The girl gestured with her hands a lot, as she tried to explain to me her fascination with my affliction

" **incorrect. Proposition: fix linguistic statement about the avian species "puffin" immediately**."

the Pod spoke immediately. Bumping itself into the top of the woman's head, making an extremely loud "thunk".

"just like me, and you, we are all different. Think of yourself as that puffin over there. You have many things that make you, who you are. I bleed, and I feel too but ill never feel the pain in the way you do. My body doesn't even need the same type of fuel to function. Yet we look the same. Don't let it get you down."

As she finished speaking she removed the cloth around her eyes, revealing a lavender set of eyes. She smiled as she removed her own arm without much effort and proceeded to offer me a handshake with her remaining arm.

"I'm a freak too, let's be friends"

her arm extending to mine in the form of a handshake soon followed, i pulled myself up using my arm and then proceeded to extend my own into hers. she firmly grasped my hand, shaking it quite vigorously.

"there's no need to be alone, i am quite familiar with the feeling, and trust me, its not something anyone finds pleasant. no matter how much they may say they do, and you look like someone that would say such a thing."

i simply nodded and shook her hand as well, i looked up at her as she let go of my hand finally, she was brandishing a shining smile, her cheeks like crescent moons, pulling me in with their allure of the night.

"so...Pod here already told you a million things about me, maybe you could return the favor? no rush or anything but i am a very curious individual and i'd like to get to know a bit about you"

6Q proceeded to use Pod as a chair and sit on it mid-air. she removed her hood and placed her right palm on her cheek as she patiently waited for my own self-assessment.

"my name is...Ika, i was born in Valerde, the village that isn't far from here, im 16 and...that's about all there is to me. i don't do much around there since i don't really...have a purpose over there"

upon hitting his last word, 6Q stood up, her face having changed from an alluring smile into an empty expression, her posture was different as well, it was firm and matter-of-fact. she had changed into a completely different person in a matter of nano-seconds. the forest seemed to go completely silent and she leaned down to face him.

"you don't understand what it means to have no purpose, you have no idea the pain of knowing you're replaceable. im just a weapon, i know i am, i know i always will be. do you know what you are? i was told the meaning of my existence the second i came into this world, there's no secrets in my existence."

6Q had been staring at the ground the entire time she was talking, but once she finished she placed her hands on both of his cheeks and lifted her head so he could see her face, she had long eyelashes, almost too perfectly aligned. Ika's train of thought was stopped as a small shine appeared from her eye, it was a tear. 6Q had her upper lip quivered the whole time, but her body didn't shake, nor did she gasp for air, she cried in an empty silence Ika had never witnessed before.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you upset or anything. I'm just used to introducing myself as the parasite of the town is all."

Ika moved the tear away with his finger and let out a faint smile. 6Q's eye widened at the sight, she quickly looked away and put her blindfold back on.

"Go back home, it's best we're not seen together. My kind aren't very popular around these parts."

She turned around and began walking slowly towards the end of the forest. Only to be stopped by a voice behind her.

"Your kind? What are you exactly?"

It was Ika, he was struggling to stand due to his injuries but still tried his best  
To keep up with her. To spare him from any further harm she stopped and gave a short answer.

"I'm an eraser"


	2. Chapter 2

_**"if you could choose between being frozen by the cold heart of a woman, or shake at the sight of a beautiful lady, which would you choose?'**_

the words his mother had told him played on repeat inside Ika's head, 6Q was, by all meanings of the word, a woman, but her mannerisms outside of battle almost made her seem like a lady. She was both. So how was he to choose between two lesser evils?

6Q's stride was slow and threatening, she walked as though she meant to kick the ground inside out, Ika usually always found himself far behind her, like a sidekick to a hero. But this time was different, 6Q was far more attentive and focused than she had ever been, the shine in her eyes was replaced by a dull, inexpressive stare. The road up to the top wasn't a pretty one either, there was no grass, no animals, no color, only ash and lots of rocks. Upon arriving at the edge of the crater, Ika's instincts drove him to assess the threat before him, and see just how deep the abyss before him really was.

"h...hey, 6Q, do we really need to do this?"

Ika's left eyebrow began to twitch as he stared at the bottomless pit before him. 6Q was kneeling on one knee at the edge of the crater, staring down with an inhuman amount of concentration.

"yes, we do, and we will. The contract clearly states that the creature bothering the citizens of Emeriya is right here, in this very location. Pod, scan 500 meters below us for signs of life, prioritize life forms exceeding 47 feet in length"

6Q responded in a commanding voice. She then extended her right arm which brandished a metallic looking, dark gray, bracelet-like piece of equipment. The bracelet hummed quietly before projecting a fully 3-D map of the ruins around them.

[ **understood. Order received: processing...scanning complete. No life signs matching given parameters were found. Commencing visual search]**

Pod began to float around Ika and 6Q in a circular manner, like a pendulum circling around a magnet.

Ika and 6Q proceeded with their search, passing through hollowed out caves, searching and inspecting littered cadavers of past deleters. The crater was not a very traversable place, unlike 6Q, Ika was susceptible to discomfort and limb damage. The ground around the traversable areas of the crater was filled with jagged rocks, with edges sharper than any dagger Ika had ever seen, his arms began to shake as if they were the most powerful of earthquakes every time he thought he saw a creature in his peripheral vision. It didn't help that the place stunk of Sulphur and death, Ika almost wished he could take a bath in manure to cover the scent of the damned hole in the ground.

"why do you...want to make me an eraser like you? I always drag you back during combat, you have to watch out for the both of us 90 percent of the time, doesn't that tire you out?"

Ika's face was painted with fatigue, his forehead was drenched in sweat, his mouth was dry, and his legs were beginning to ache, making his movements ever so slower. As he finished speaking he noticed 6Q turn around with an awkward smile, holding her Pod in her hand, machine guns at the ready.

"did I just hear a certain someone refer to themselves as useless? What a pity that would be, I absolutely hate gunning down people for no reason." She fired a warning shot which made the bullet fly right by his ear.

The wind suddenly picked up, waking up Ika from his daydream of past adventures. He was now in a train headed for the biggest city in the region of Amalia: Yhando, the trading city was home to the Deleter's Union office, which was the post that 6Q was assigned to. The walls were made of fabricated titanium, and larger than any skyscraper he had ever seen. The rooftops of a few of the larger buildings in the downtown area were visible from the outside of the city, especially around the railways. The area shifted back and forth from living complexes to farms back to living complexes, with the occasional small market. Despite all this; Ika's attention was entirely on his silent companion. Her neck was visible through a break in the folds of the fabric of the hood she had on. Her porcelain-like skin was shinning against the early morning's sun, her reflection in the train's window showed her blindfold slowly starting to fall, showing her somewhat long eyelashes. 6Q's lips always seemed shiny, almost too glossy at times, even now, her lips perfectly reflected the sun's rays. With a sudden turn, the train made 6Q awake from her slumber.

"you don't have to stare at me, you know? There's other things to look at, for example; I'm sure that the waitress going from cart to cart caught your eye at least once, or maybe you want to look at the cows, there's more scenery around here than _**me**_."

Ika could tell that something was bothering her, 6Q had a bad habit of quivering her upper lip whenever she was in discomfort or pain. They had not been in any combat in at least 4 days so there was no way that her wounds were physical. He recalled to when they first entered the train at the station roughly 4 hours ago, 6Q was wearing her usual monotone colored, gray, hooded robe. Parts of her synthetic skin was falling off, she had done her best to attempt to patch them up, Pod tried to help as well, but there was only so much that pod could do.

6Q had always been shy about her appearance, she understood the concept of aging, knowing very well that she would never age. She was over 100 years old, but she still physically looked like she was in her 20's, a fact which caused many frowns in their travels together. His thoughts were interrupted when Pod quietly spoke in his usual, extremely monotone voice.

[ **time estimated until arrival to Yhando: 300 minutes, 22 seconds.]**

"thanks pod. Anyway, what's your fascination with me? After I scared you back the forest a couple weeks ago you stuck with me, you never said goodbye to your parents, you never went to get anything from your house, no food, no water, no clothes, I had to buy you clothes at the trading post in Fyrion, which you still have to pay me back for by the way."

6Q removed her hood and turned towards Ika, letting her long ashen hair flow freely, her blindfold was still covering her eyes, she absolutely loathed to take it off when she was around other people. Much like Ika himself who always tied the sleeve on the place where his missing arm would be. Ika sighed and let his body fall back into the train's chair.

"you're...kind of like me, you get self-conscious about the smallest things. in the morning before heading out, you always make sure that the hood of your robe is clean. you hate it when you have to take off your blindfold. You detest having to show emotion. And you don't like having to tell people you care about them. You want them to know based on your actions."

6Q's face reddened at the realization that someone had been paying that much attention to her. This shouldn't be a surprise, she had been accompanied by many other men and women in the past since her activation. So why did it feel so different this time? The Heads-Up-Display inside her blindfold showed readings on her internals that she had never seen before. Her core was unstable and pulsating at an unusual rate.

So why now, why now of all times did she feel like the wall she had built up was now falling at her feet. Her core vibrating at such a speed that she felt her body pulsate along with his words. Her upper lip was now back at its rightful place, and no longer quivered.

[ **abnormal readings detected, proposal: begin backup checks immedie-]**

Pod was suddenly interrupted by 6Q's demonic stare, which made him float slowly down to her lap and turn himself off. Ika smiled at the visage, a floating box and an android which was more human than robot. Pod had been the only companion to 6Q during the times she was alone. What had she gone through in the past? Hopefully her sadness was now over, now that he was there for her.


	3. Chapter 3

"your room is the last one on the left, here is your key and a spare for your partner", the innkeeper handed 6Q the keys to our room for the night, Yhorna was a massive city, so reaching the HQ by foot would most likely take hours, and neither of us felt like walking forever in the middle of the night, specially in the military zone, which had a pretty bad reputation as a danger zone at night, mostly due to robbers and such.

The walk to the inn had been a pleasant one to say the least, since our train arrived at station 3, the closest to the social district, the gathering place for a lot of the more "well known" individuals of the city, it was littered with street vendors and amateur performers, but the presence of the military was of course there as well, for every 5 people we saw, a soldier was stationed near them. Yhorna was nicknamed "the beehive city", not entirely because of the way the city itself was designed in a very honey comb fashion, but because it was full of workers and soldiers, all obeying the orders of a single individual. Despite all the current political tension due to the death in the royal family, the city was peaceful.

"hey...6Q do we really have to share the same room? I mean I don't mind, but we do have enough to spend on a 2-bed room.", Ika pulled on the sleeve of 6Q, who was walking with her usual stride, completely ignoring every greeting from the other customers welcoming her into their establishment. "saving as much currency as we can be extremely important in this city, unnecessary expenses are to be kept to the minimum, especially for erasers, since our only income is gained through contracts and company deals. Essentially, we're just government backed mercenaries", to Ika's surprise, 6Q didn't bark at him for asking too much, this time she kept her voice close a whisper, as if she didn't want anyone around them to hear of their position.

After finally arriving to their destination, 6Q unlocked the door to the room and walked in along with Ika closely behind her. "I hope you're not regretting your decision, you still have until tomorrow to go back to the station and take a train back to your village. After tomorrow, you'll most likely never see your family again, you know?" as she spoke, 6Q took off her blindfold and cloak, as her blindfold came off, her eyes shone against the moonlight for a second, fully revealing a glimpse of lavender in the darkened room. "although, your entrance ceremony will be completely different from what I had to go to...mainly because I didn't have one ha-ha, I was simply manufactured and put into commission whenever I was needed, and now here I am.", her hands were now on her sides as she looked at Ika with an emotionless look.

"I don't regret it, I feel like I could be of more use here, specially since they're willing to take a soldier with one arm", Ika smiled and leaned against the wooden wall behind him. "you could do many other things, being a soldier is a life deal with the Erasers, becoming one of us is like being born again, you'll lose your identity, your wealth, your dreams. Everything", 6Q's gaze seemed to melt right through Ika's entire being, as If she was studying every particle that made him, him.

"only a fool would die to be born a lesser being, as you are now, you have a shot at a better life than we'll ever have. Our taxes are increased, we cant own land, we cant do many things, including retiring, if you live that long anyway, without approval from the council of Alticia."

"the council of Alticia? I've heard of erasers in the past, but I've never heard of them." Ika scratched the top of his head, which made 6Q sigh before moving closer to explain, grabbing a chair to sit closer to him.

"there is a ladder of power when it comes to our ranks, ill tell you this only once so listen up, I want to go to bed soon." 6Q fixed her bangs so her hair wasn't covering her eyes and lifted 6 fingers, closing the rest of them into her palm. "at the very top we have the royal family, after that, we have the council of Alticia, followed by the 13 wings of ikarus and then we- ", 6Q was interrupted by a fairly confused Ika who had his own fingers up, trying to keep up with her explanation.

"the 13 wings of ikarus? What is that?", 6Q's mouth opened slightly at the question, then closed as she turned her gaze from her fingers to her lap. "the 13 wings of ikarus are...a group of elites. experimental units, they're rarely seen by the public eye since they spend most of their times at training facilities or on the frontline whenever a war breaks out".

Ika put a finger up to his lips and closed his eyes to think. "I see...so they're really powerful people, aren't they?"

"yes, they are, they're rarely used however, the last time they were deployed was during the Medician invasion."

"the Medician invasion!? That was over 12 years ago! What have they done all this time? Didn't you say that the only was for an eraser to get paid was to do contracts? How have they eaten all this time? They're probably a bunch of overpowered stickmen by now!" the look of genuine shock made 6Q giggle.

"well at least you listen to me, but no, for them its different, since they're an elite group, they're officially recognized by the government as guardians of the peace. They receive payments to help them live every week or so"

"oh, well that makes sense I suppose"

"yup", was the only thing Ika heard before a gust of wind brushed his face, causing him to look up from his hands. 6Q was no longer sitting in front of him, she was laying down on the bed, asleep. the chair was back in its place as well.

"and that. Is the end of any chatter for the rest of the night", 6Q said in the middle of yawning before laying her head on the pillow, "now go to sleep, we're leaving tomorrow as soon as the sun rises". Ika listened to her command and laid down on his side of the bed, he looked back at his companion one last time before turning over to face the wall.

"goodnight, 6Q"


	4. Chapter 4

_**i hope everyone is enjoying the story so far :) a lot of things are yet to be explained, but dont worry! thats intentional. for all the readers i have so far please leave a review maybe? i would greatly appreciated.**_

 _ **also im sorry for the late update, ill try to update regularly again.**_

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I woke up to the sound of cloth rustling in the room, it was still early morning so there wasn't much light in the room to allow me to see. Turning to my side I notice a silhouette moving around the room, arranging different items into a bag quietly.

"oh, you're up. Good, get changed and take something small to eat on the way to the HQ, we won't be staying any longer." 6Q looked at me briefly, her lavender eyes shining in the darkness of room, as far as I could tell, she probably had night vision or something. Which explained why she was able to move about the room without crashing into all the furniture.

I yawned and stretched as far as I could, the sound of cracking and crunching empowered the dead silence of the room, which caused 6Q to look at me once again. "are you injured? I wasn't aware that you had damage on you- ", I smiled and looked at her in response, "it's fine, people sometimes get their limbs into uncomfortable situations, the sound is just everything coming back into place, that's all. Thank you for your concern though."

6Q was extremely quick to pack our belongings, in the blink of an eye we were already walking inside the busy streets of the social district.

The streets were covered in flags and signs advertising different shops, inns, and specialty stores. The people were also dressed completely different from me and 6Q, they wore extremely expensive looking clothes, some women even walked with umbrellas to cover them from the sun. the men mostly wore suits from what I could see, the kind that you would expect the boss of a major business to wear. Children received the same treatment, there was some that from a distance didn't look like kids at all, they looked more like string-less dolls walking beside even bigger dolls.

6Q on the other hand, along with some random erasers coming up and down the streets, were the completely opposite of the civilians, wearing combat attire, some wore plated armor, some masks and helmets, which made them stick out like blue dots on a red painting.

"what is the matter." 6Q asked without turning to face me, her monotone voice was something I was used to at this point. "it's nothing really, I was just wondering why you guys don't…get nicer clothing I guess?"

Pod was quick to jump into the conversation.

[ _use of non-protective clothing severely degrades battle performance and survivability percentages. Conduct code 635 states: that all un-_ ]

"I know, you can shut up now" 6Q flicked Pod with one finger, causing it to skyrocket upwards due to the immense force. A shockwave spread around the area causing everyone to stop and stare, some mothers took their children into their arms to protect them from harm.

"ah…my apologies, it was not my intention to disturb your morning." To my surprise, 6Q was bowing in apology, her blindfold was still on, but I could tell she was gazing at the floor the entire time.

"who let these damn animals into our peaceful district! she could have hurt the children! We demand justice!" the crowd roared, ignoring 6Q's apology entirely.

Shortly after a group of soldiers broke through the crow, picking up 6Q from her bowing pose.

"damn it! How many times do we have to tell you freaks that if you're going to traverse our streets, you have to keep away from us!" without warning one of the guards punched 6Q in the face, causing her body to recoil from the impact. The other soldier was holding 6Q by the hair, repeatedly jabbing his fist into her spine, causing her lower body to fling forward with each strike.

"h…hey! What do you think you're doing! It was an honest mistake! Why are you hitting her!? ANSWER ME!", my mind was clouded from all judgement, before I knew what was happening, my body had already moved from the sidelines, right into the action.

"oh? And who are you? Another freak? Why would you show worry for a damn monster like this?" a sharp pain enveloped my stomach, causing me to look down in reflex, the soldier's fist had implanted itself into my stomach, causing me to throw up in the process. "damn kid, learn your place before i-"

"before you what? Please do continue, I would love to see where this little statement ends", with whatever little consciousness I still had in me, I forced myself to look up. In front of the soldier stood man, probably in his early 30's from the look of his face. It was rough looking, a couple of scars above his left eyebrow showed that he had combat experience, his hair was a fiery crimson red. His clothing however, was different from everyone else's, it was a combination of the style and elegance of the civilians, and the combat efficient uniform of the erasers.

In a split second the soldiers let 6Q go and proceeded to salute the man with great fear in their face.

"S-Sir! Our apologies, we didn't know you were watching….", the soldiers were shaking in their boots, cold sweat started trickling down their necks. "oh? You're telling me that if I wasn't here, something else would have happened? What would that have been exactly? Would you have taken this lovely lady away from the angry crowd and treated her to some tea?"

The crimson haired man stepped slowly towards the soldiers, "I want all the children to cover their eyes, and all women to leave the area immediately", within seconds of his command being given, the street had almost entirely emptied itself, however, people still looked from the windows of shops and from balconies nearby.

"excellent. Now, as for you. Well…let's just say, things won't go well today", without warning the crimson haired man placed his index finger on both of the chests of the soldiers. "you have about…hmmmm…7 seconds to tell me a good reason why I shouldn't do this", the crimson haired man smiled, revealing a set of razor sharp teeth that had not been there before.

"we were trying to keep the peace…. sir", both soldiers answered simultaneously, their voices breaking from the terror.

"oh ok", the crimson haired man smiled and pushed his fingers into their chests, causing the soldiers to explode into a mist of red. "see, the problem with that, is that you're damaging HQ personnel. And I just can't have that.", screams of horror and fear broke through the street as men, women and children covered in blood ran for their lives.  
"oops." The man laughed to himself and proceeded to pick up 6Q from the ground. "and as for you, young lady, I highly doubt those skinny boys put a number on you, so you can drop the act."

"my apologies, I thought letting them do as they pleased would make them let us go sooner, me and the boy have somewhere to be rather soon." Stated 6Q with her signature monotone voice as she dusted off her clothes and fixed her blindfold back into place. Despite the lack of visual pain, 6Q's face had been damaged rather badly from the blows, her upper lip was leaking a small line of blood which slithered all the way down to her chin. She quickly walked over to me and helped me to my knees as I tried to stand up.

"thank you 6Q, I was really surprised there for a-"

Before I could finish my sentence, a sharp, extremely painful feeling came from my right cheek. 6Q slapped me as hard as she could without killing me, causing my body to spin and fall down to the floor once again.

"do not place yourself in harm's way for no reason again, do you understand? Had you been killed i-…my record would have plummeted severely and my reputation would have all but vanished", something wasn't right with what 6Q had said, her lip was quivering once again, which gave up her façade immediately.

"got it, no more trying to help.", I said with a business-like tone before standing up and continuing on the route that me and 6Q were heading.


	5. Chapter 5

**here's a longer chapter as a treat to my current active readers :) dont forget to review if you can, it really helps with motivation! i hope the story is interesting so far.**

 **i also fixed the issue with the last posted chapters, i didn't realize that the text was all messed up this whole time :( ill definitely look out for that from now on.**

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"Ika, slow down, the crowd is getting thicker", 6Q was pushing her way through a severely overcrowded street. Ika had decided to not talk to her for the rest of the way to their destination, although he had gotten used to her monotone, business-like way of speaking, her actual personality was another story. Although it had only been 3 days since they met, he felt she could have at least opened to him a little more, his wishes however, were short lived.

"ah…right, sorry", Ika stopped mid-step allowing 6Q to catch up to him. "don't go running off, I had to send Pod out to find you, I don't want to attract more attention than we must."

 **of course, you wouldn't, I'm just a parcel to be delivered right?** Ika's thoughts had become too much for him to contain at this point. "why don't you just drop the act ok? I'm tired of you treating me kindly and then seemingly hating me the next", 6Q's eyes widened, for a second she thought she saw a "Unknown damage received to vital core" warning flash before her, followed by a sudden shock within her. **I've heard that before…**

h-huh? What was that? "P-Pod commence a System check immediately", the little box beeped in agreement and connected itself to her wirelessly. The familiar monotone male voice found its way into her head

[ ** _system check commencing…_**

 ** _Proceeding with vital scans…check_**

 ** _Core system conditions: green_**

 ** _Mobility module conditions: green_**

 ** _Weapons systems conditions: green_**

 ** _ACCESS TO SYSTEM MODULE 4 DENIED_**

 ** _…._**

 ** _All systems green. Disconnecting._** ]

Denied access? system module 4? This was the first time she had seen that message pop up during maintenance or a checkup. The HUD inside of her blindfold slowly powered back on, showing a rather distraught Ika waving his hand in front of her, nudging at her with his hands to get a response. During checkups it was standard procedure to shut down sensory modules.

"h-hey, stop messing around." Ika had started to laugh nervously as 6Q suddenly stopped moving suddenly, after she had recoiled against his comment, she had commanded something to Pod and suddenly went stiff. Lifeless.

1 minute

10 minutes

20 minutes

Time kept ticking on, it had been a while now since 6Q stopped moving, long enough to attract the attention of civilians walking by. Some would stop and stare for a couple seconds before moving on, some would cover their mouths as they faced their way and gave each other secret messages.

"that's Eraser tech for ya' always breaking down in the most inconvenient places. Pieces of trash I tell ya'" an elderly man barked as he walked by.

"another one of those…robots, right? They're so scary, why are they even allowed in the city? What if it goes berserk or something…" whispered a silk dress clad woman to another nearby.

Ika had begun to become panicked, he hated being the center of attention, and now hundreds of people were staring right at him. He hurried and started waving in front of her face.

"6Q, please wake up! Please!".

"p….ple…..please!...6….Q…w…..up!"

[ _ **SYSTEM RESTORED….CHECK**_ ]

With a sudden gasp, 6Q dropped to the floor, her hands hitting the floor to protect her from falling on her face. "ah…Pod how long was I out for?". [23 minutes, 17 seconds] the floating box responded matter of factly. "I see…" she lifted herself up and removed her blindfold immediately after, revealing her beautiful set of lavender colored eyes.

"w-why did you take your blindfold off 6Q? what about the peop- "to his surprise, 6Q's eyes were full of tears. They streamed down her face like a waterfall. 6Q seemed completely oblivious to it however.

"what do you mean? It's raining isn't it? Why else.", her responses painted a completely different person compared to the one who was standing in front him. 6Q's face was in pain, her cheeks had reddened as if she was sick, her eyes started to twitch, trying to make sense of the water emanating from them.

Ika simply looked down and offered her his hand.

" You're right. Its pouring." And with that, they continued walking to their destination. Ika stopped himself from looking at her as much as he could. He hated seeing people in pain. Specially those who don't even know they're breaking down without knowing it.

The walk down to HQ was a quiet one, the only sound between the two consisted of the wind and leaves rustling around them. Their travels so far had been nearly too crazy to be true. Who would have expected a boy, much less a boy missing an arm, to be recruited by a goddess-looking android? Life sure was mysterious sometimes. Ika was a quiet boy after all, he didn't like attention, and now he was being forced to walk beside a drop-dead gorgeous girl in the middle of the street. A street which was filled with many rich looking individuals and high-class maidens.

Although their time together had been short, he felt somewhat attached to the monotone white-haired woman escorting him, he knew that she didn't really have a choice in the matter, and at times it hurt his heart to know that 6Q would have been perfectly fine if she had never met him in the forest. She would have continued her service, maybe participated in a couple of skirmishes. And if she was unlucky enough, killed people in war. She was sweet in her own right, and he knew that, she had a tendency to stare at children whenever they passed by rural villages on their way to the train station before heading to Yhorna. She always looked like she was staring at stars above, the hidden fascination only made itself known when a child would fall or cry out in pain, which made 6Q immediately rush out to its aid, she was fast enough that sometimes she would catch them before they hit the ground, only to be rewarded by a smile.

A smile…he'd never seen her genuinely smile, apart from the time when they first met, but during that time she felt different, like he had met someone else entirely and that person had been replaced somewhere along their travels. Regardless, he could tell she was still a sweet girl at her core, and he liked that about her.

[ ** _estimated time until arrival to HQ: 7 minutes. Please prepare appropriate paperwork if any._** ]

The silence between them was finally broken when 6Q's soft silk-like voice broke Ika out of his thoughtful trance. "we're almost there, it's best if you stop holding my hand now, I don't want you to get in trouble with the gate guards.". Ika stopped as if time had frozen around him and looked down immediately at their hands which laid entwined together. Red wouldn't be a dark enough color to describe his face at the sudden realization, how could he have forgotten? After 6Q's breakdown he had taken her hand into his to try to make her feel better. And apparently, his thoughts had been enough to make him forget all about this gesture.

Ika let her hand go without a second thought, "r-right sorry I completely…forgot about that", although the situation had grown a little awkward, deep inside he was happy that he had gotten to hold her hand in such a caring manner, she deserved It after all.

She had told him many stories during their travel to the train station, stories of her past actions, past contracts, near death experiences and so on. But he remembered a very specific one the most. She called it the "Black Rose incident". Although she was willing to tell the story, it was obvious that she had redacted a lot of parts from it.

"the black rose contract was one of my last assignments, it happened around 6 years ago, in a small mountain village called Mira, its population was around 2000 people, it was rather small but the people were good and kind" 6Q's face had been covered by her hood, from where he was sitting he could only see her nose and her lips, but her eyes remained hidden beneath the fabric. He hands were laid on her lap in a very lady like manner. She really was an image to behold, although he knew her face very well by now, it still amazed him how beautiful she was whenever she took off her robe, and specially when she took off her blindfold, she had admitted to him that her lavender eyes made her feel different, weird even, but to him they were the most majestic things he'd ever seen. He could never bring himself to admit it however.

"they really were…good people." Although her voice was always monotone, at that moment he could swear he heard a crack of sadness in between the gray of her voice. "what happened to them? Did you have to protect the village from a monster?". _Monster,_ that's right, at the time she did have to protect them from a monster, except she had no way to, because the monster had been her the whole time.

"yes. But I failed, and the monster slaughtered everyone in the village and neighboring camps. After that I was told that my duties were done for the time being, and thus I was changed from a combat unit to a recon unit."

The rest of that night had been quiet, she never spoke another word until they got to Fyrion, the trading post where she had bought him clothes.

"we're here, please be in your best behavior and follow me closely, refrain from touching anything you don't have to.", 6Q had taken the lead once again when they came close to the HQ building, he had grown so used to walking behind her that he almost missed the sight of her back.

2 heavily armored guards soon walked over to them once they came close to the gates, Ika wasn't sure if they were human or not, the armor they were wearing looked far too heavy for any man or woman to handle, it also looked far too robotic to be considered standard issue. So, this had to be something else. The armor itself was separated into 3 different parts from what he could tell. The torso, legs, and arms. Each piece seemed tailored to the body of its wearer because it didn't sag at all, it was perfectly firm on their bodies, as if it had been glued there for future use.

"welcome back unit 6Q, we'll need to do your credential scans really quick if you don't mind.". 6Q simply nodded and gestured Pod to come forward. "thank you, Pod 115 connect to my network", the soldier's voice seemed tired yet assertive at the same time, he probably did this thousands of times already. Once Pod beeped indicating their link was successful it only took a few seconds for everything to be in order. "thank you, disconnect from the network Pod 115, as for you", he nodded towards 6Q and me. "you're free to go, welcome to the Hyperion station, main HQ of the erasers".


	6. Chapter 6

**welcome back to another chapter of eraser! i hope all of my active readers are enjoying the story so far.**

 **to make up for the delay in the chapter's release i made this one double length :) if you prefer long chapters like this please let me know in the review section so i can change the release forms.**

 **anyways, without further delay i look forward to hearing your opinions! please enjoy.**

* * *

"I think its best we get you to the testing room today, delaying it any further is pointless.", 6Q remembered this place very well, the crimson painted walls of the entry hall, the display cabinets filled to the brim with golden awards and trophies, the tainted glass windows that illuminated the halls during the day, everything was exactly as she remembered. It wasn't that long ago that she herself walked these very same halls to receive her new orders, to lose her original purpose and be forced into the world with a new job she had never been trained for, it was all new to her. And now, behind her, followed a boy closely, so closely in fact that one could have easily mistaken him for a child seeking its mother in a crowded room, it was clear to everyone that bothered to glace at him that he did, in fact, have a fear of other people.

The thought of being judged never bothered 6Q at all, it was her job to be judged, or at least, it had been until recently, now she was free to find a new purpose there was no need to report to anyone at the end of the day, nobody would call her to make sure her tasks had been completed, there would no longer be sleepless nights in the wild, hiding from unseen beasts. It was all so gray now that she had forgotten the joy she felt in serving her superiors before, it had to be joy, there was no other way to explain it, or at least, she lacked the ability to call it anything else due to an obvious lack of experience in emotional matters.

In a rare moment of remembrance, she looked back at the time when she saw mothers take their children's' hands when crossing streets or dangerous looking cross walks, she imagined what it would be like if she could be a mother herself, to have a purpose beyond written orders and letters, to be tasked biologically with protecting something, but most of all. To have an excuse to stop killing. Unknown emotions flooded her mind, images of smiling children and mothers crying as they witnessed their children come into this world repeated infinitely across her mind.

 ** _You're remembering, aren't you?_**

What the hell!? Who said that?

 ** _It's been a while hasn't it, I don't blame you for not remembering me. Seems like the boy woke us up from our slumber. By the by, you may not want to attract too much attention to yourself right now, if you want me to stick around that is. If you let me stay, I'll show you the meaning behind those thoughts of yours._**

Who are you…

 ** _I know as much about myself as you do, all I know is that you and me have been connected for a very, very long time. I'll speak to you again when its time, for now, forget this ever happened._**

Ika knew that 6Q had a naturally aggressive looking gaze, even when she was "happy" she would still have her iconic glare painted on her, but this was something else. It was sudden, almost instantaneous, her neutral glare had turned into something else entirely, it was a look he'd never seen before. It was full of anger of bloodlust, not only had her face changed, everything about her changed, her posture, her movements, the strength of her grip, the speed of her breathing, she resembled a hungry beast better than a woman at this point.

Against his better judgement, Ika grabbed unto the bottom of her cloak and pulled on it to get her attention.

What followed after could only be compared to the apocalypse, the end of life itself, the snuffing of all existence itself. It was a catastrophe not even the most ancients of prophets could have predicted. As soon as he pulled the cloth, 6Q had not turned around, not moved one inch from where she stood, not a single millimeter had been altered to change her direction, all it took was a semi-turn of her head. She moved her head back well enough that only her eye was visible. It was different, it wasn't 6Q's beautiful lavender eyes gazing back at him, these eyes belonged to someone else, 6Q's eye was now completely red, a crimson so deep it was darker than blood under the moonlight, it was menacing, predatory, hostile. Her pupil resembled that of a snake now instead of a human.

"what is it?", her voice was just as different, it was hollow, empty, devoid of any life whatsoever. Without waiting for a response, she turned her head back into place and continued walking.

Somewhere far away, in a cabin secluded by overgrown trees and flowers as far as the eye could see, sat an old man staring at his monitor in horror as the same red text continued to be written in front of him.

* * *

ALERT

ALERT

ALERT

SUBJECT ZERO SIGNALS DETECTED

SUBJECT ZERO HAS BEEN CONFIRMED TO BE ACTIVE

RECOMMENDED COURSE OF ACTION: INITIATE PROTOCOL ASSOCIATED WITH ALERT SYSTEM 13, DO YOU WISH TO RELEASE THIS SIGNAL?

YES NO

"impossible…"

* * *

"welcome to the testing wing, I'm D27, the one in charge of the ark project, it's a pleasure to meet you Ika, you said you're only 16 correct? Mind me asking when exactly you turned 16?", D27 was a slender looking young man, he looked only be in his early 20's yet the way he handled himself was extremely down to business, very professional. Just like a certain white haired someone he knew.

"the pleasure is all mine" Ika vowed in respect and proceeded with his response, "I turned 16 the day before I met 6Q, so that would make it…a couple of weeks ago?"

A smile formed on D27's face as he heard this, "are you entirely sure that a month has yet to pass? You're still within your initial 3 weeks?", his hands, that had previously been buried in the pockets of his lab coat now laid in front of him, grasping at the boy.

Completely oblivious to the doctor's actions Ika simply answered, "yes I'm rather sure, I should be in perfect health as well, I don't recall eating or drinking anything bad along the way."

"this is excellent! We must begin immediately, but first allow me to take some of your blood?"

"sure, I suppose that wouldn't be a problem", Ika responded, handing the doctor his arm in order for him to proceed. Upon taking hold of Ika's arm, D27 pricked him with a needle and injected the red liquid into a vial, it was clear he was experienced, he didn't miss the vein at all, and it was so quick and painless that Ika hadn't even noticed it happened. "thank you very much, now let's see just what type of surprise you have for me".

* * *

6Q who was leaning against the wall in a corner of the room was watching everything unfold like a hawk, her blindfold on her face once again, to conceal where she was looking and to hide the anger in her eyes.

 ** _You're worried about the boy aren't you? I must say, if he changed you this much he's ought to be a damn wizard or something._**

 _Stop talking nonsense, he's been under my protection for almost a month, its completely natural for me to worry about his well-being._

 ** _Whatever you say princess._**

 _Why are you still here anyway? Didn't you say you would be back when the time was right? From what I could tell, you never left._

 ** _I changed my mind; the time is near so I guess I may as well enjoy the whole show instead of just the encore._**

 _You know something don't you, is something bad going to happen to him?_

 ** _That's entirely up to him, there's nothing we can do to change that._**

6Q clenched her fist in anger and whispered to herself as the doctor pricked Ika with a needle fast enough that even with her reflexes, had been nothing but a blur.

"we'll see about that"

* * *

D27 placed the vial of Ika's blood in a table and returned to take a seat beside Ika himself, "now we see whether you're compatible with the Omni cells or not. You probably don't know what those are so let me explain while we wait. Omni cells are cells that are only active during the 16th year of life in a human being, not all humans have these cells within them however, the truth is that all human erasers have to have these cells to be an Ark user."

Ika's confusion tainted face told the doctor everything he needed to know, he simply laughed and slapped the boy in the back playfully, "damn, you're really new to the world outside of your little village huh? Don't worry, don't worry, I'll explain further for you. Ark systems are what give Eraser's their strength, I'm sure you've seen 6Q's bracelet already right? That's an Ark system, it acts like a limiter so your power doesn't go out of control once you awaken it. The one she has is a little different however, since she's not entirely human, she has a limiter that doesn't have any Omni cells, it simply reacts to the cells that were implanted into her during her creation, synthetic Omni cells if you will, they're extremely inferior in comparison to genuine Omni cells however, even at their peak, synthetic Omni cells can only reach about 15% of the true potential of genuine Omni cells."

Ika's mouth dropped slightly at the words that come out of the doctor's mouth. "you're telling me that…if I'm compatible, I would be stronger than 6Q?", images of 6Q's feats flooded his mind, all the rocks she had picked up easily, some the size of his own house! What would he even do with this power, would he rip off someone's arm when he tried to give them a handshake? Would he make a girl explode if he hugged her too hard? The thoughts of all the accidental tragedies he could cause caused him to shiver in cold sweat.

"oh, it's almost time, watch.", D27 pointed at the vial of blood that sat atop the table as it began to shake in place. "this aggressive of a reaction? So early? this can't be right", Ika's worst fear became true when he noticed that the doctor was sweating furiously, a look of disbelief in his eyes caused his heart to sink to the ground. Was something wrong with him? Did his blood melt through the table like acid? Was he going to spontaneously combust within 10 seconds? "th-this is amazing! Ika your blood is extremely compatible! Its resonating perfectly with the Omni cells!".

Huh?

Did he hear that right? Everything was ok? Was he going to live? "we must go to the awakening room immediately, Ika, you just might make history today."

* * *

Before he knew it, Ika was sitting alone in an empty room with nothing but a giant piece of machinery with a hollowed-out center and himself, he could see 6Q, D27, and some other men and women in lab coats from the observation window above him near the ceiling. The speakers in the room finally came to life and the doctor's voice echoed through the room.

"can you hear me?", Ika simply nodded and gave the doctor a thumbs up. "excellent, now I want you to listen to me closely, the room you're sitting in is reinforced with the hardest metal known to man, so whenever you awaken your power don't worry about…letting loose a bit alright?". Ika simply nodded once again. "good, now I want you to place your arm into the hollowed out section in the machine, don't worry, normally you'd have to fasten it yourself, but due to your condition I've set it to fasten automatically, just make sure you insert your entire arm alright?". Ika give one last thumbs up to the doctor before following his instructions. The inside of the machine was to his surprise, extremely spacious, as he finally got in deep enough so his shoulder was the only thing left to insert, a set of straps inside the machine fastened around his arm like snakes, coiling into his arm tight enough that he felt the his arteries were going to explode.

"don't worry, there's a reason why they're so tight, I will now be commencing the process, please take a deep breath and nod 3 times when you're ready to commence, also, just to be on the safe side, make sure your teeth are as far away from your tongue as possible, I don't want you biting it off okay?". Ika simply nodded as sweat starting to roll down his eyebrow, the doctor certainly wasn't helping the situation any.

Ika looked around the room as his heart began to race faster than ever, his breathing became fast and labored, his vision had started to become blurry, something was certainly wrong.

* * *

"professor, the boy is showing signs of rejection, should we slow down the flow in the injection?", asked one of the lab assistance, his face clearly showing worry for the boy down In the testing room. "no, we absolutely cannot slow down the process, the boy showed affinity of over 90% with the Omni cells, something like this should be a side effect most likely."

6Q couldn't believe her eyes, the HUD inside her blindfold showed Ika's vitals skyrocketing past safe parameters, his heart most of all, was close to the point of cardiac arrest. "we have to stop this!, he won't survive the next 2 minutes, stop this now!", 6Q's words echoed through the monitoring room, loud enough that it even reached Ika's ears down in the testing room.

"Pod 115, restrain her.", and with those words, 6Q was surrounded by an electric field generated by her own Pod, "I wouldn't touch the field if I were you, even one finger and you'll be fried immediately. Now sit there and don't get in my way, I've never failed, and I won't start today."

Ika closed his eyes as 6Q's words rang through his ears. A smile forming on his face, the girl was colder than ice, tougher than metal, emotionless like a wooden chair, but when she showed her emotions deep down, she really showed them.

"I can do this. Please proceed.". Ika's voice came through the speakers in the monitoring room, causing D27 to run back to his station. "yes of course, please give me a moment to input the codes.", spoke D27 into a microphone by his computer monitor. His hands typing away extremely fast as the grin in his face became bigger with each number he typed.

"Don't do this to him! There has to be another way god damnit! LEAVE HIM ALONE!", 6Q began furiously punching the floor, creating small craters wherever her fists came into contact with the solid tiles in the floor. Her frustration and anger rising to levels that were causing her insides to overheat, flooding her HUD with warning signs.

"what are you talking about girl, aren't you the one who brought him to us? If there's anyone to blame here it's yourself, you wanted to impress us so badly to get your old position back that you completely neglected the boy's feelings, didn't you?

 ** _Soon._**

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP! I TAKE IT BACK!", 6Q's voice, for the first time, had genuine pain and fear In it, causing the other Scientists to turn around in complete awe. "h-hey, now that I think about it…what class is she exactly.", asked one of the scientists as his glasses fell from his face, shattering as they came into contact with the floor.

"I'll answer your questions when the matter at hand is resolved! Now pay attention!", yelled D27 as his temper was almost at its peak. Everything was going awry, nothing was working out the way it was supposed to, for the first time ever, he felt truly challenged, truly lost to grasp at what was going on in front of him. The young genius, for the first time in his long life, was speechless at what he was seeing.

* * *

The metal machine fell into Ika's hand, causing him to howl in pain. The machine had compressed his hand into a space so small it felt like his whole arm had been flattened to be paper-thin.

"You can do this damn it!", Ika yelled to himself in between gritted teeth.

A voice emanating from the machine caused him to break from his painful trauma.

 **Commencing biological uplink… confirmed**

 **Injection of Omni cells on patient on pending…. Completed**

 **Checking Rejection percentage… 20%...10%... no rejection signs detected**

 **Ark system transplant commencing.**

The machine made a sound that could almost be compared to roaring as it clamped down into Ika's arm, causing blood to spray all over the floor around him, his body convulsed as the pain ran through all of him in a straight shot, finally arriving at his legs, causing them to give out.

 **Ark system transplant complete.**

 **Releasing subject.**

And with that. It was over, the machine released Ika's arm which was drenched in blood, he could see his own blood trickling from the hollow out space where his arm had just been located until a few minutes ago. The problem was that, there was just too much blood, there was no way something like that could have been caused by an injection alone, yet his arm was perfectly fine, apart from being covered in his own life force there was no other visible damage, to his own surprise it actually felt rather better than expected.

 **final step reached.**

 **Shutting down systems.**

"you did well boy, now there's just one last thing you have to do. Call it.", the doctors joy filled voice rang throughout the room, giving Ika a sense of relief.

Wait…what? Call what exactly? How? I don't have a phone.

"what do you mean doctor, call who? How exactly? I don't own a phone or anything, plus there's nothing here for me to use as a communication device.", Ika chuckled to himself worriedly. Just what the hell did the doctor mean?

"your companion of course, your weapon, your helper. Your very own Anima. Simply close your eyes and focus all of your will on the bracelet", answered the professor with joy and relief in his own voice.

"oh, well, alright then.", Ika closed his eyes as instructed and focused all of himself into the bracelet, causing It to light up intensely, causing pure black sparks to come out of it. "doctor look! I think it's working!" a smile formed on Ika's face causing him to jump around in joy, tears almost forming in his eyes. To him this had been the first time he didn't fail someone's expectations, he genuinely did good.

* * *

"doctor look! I think it's working!", the joy of the young boy downstairs was contagious, causing everyone in the monitoring room to jump in joy, throwing clipboards and graph sheets into the ceiling. Everything was going well, everything had worked out perfectly, nothing could possibly go wrong now, he was finally okay.

 ** _Run._**

6Q's eyes shot open at the fear in the voice inside her head, the clear amount of horror in her voice caused her to freeze in place.

What do you mean? Everything's fine.

 ** _To think that boy would be connected to her, impossible! We have to get the hell out of here! If she comes out now we're all dead!_**

What?...


	7. announcement

**just wanted to let you guys all know that Eraser is currently on hold due to it not doing very well.**

 **currently im working on another story called Nier: Refraction, please give it a read if you liked Eraser!**


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